the party out and into the promised landandlindseygrahamandjohn mccain. they're just the guys to do it. so old versus young. a little bit more moderate versus less moderate. the chris: who is more moderate? >> mccain and graham are more moderate. of the two, mccain is more moderate than lindsay. chris: the cuban american guy, if you will, from his background is tougher on immigrants. >> cubans get in for free. chris: when we come back, the big question of the week, has president obama put himself at political risk if the big cuts do not chris: welcome back, this week's big question, has president obama played the sequester politics shortly, dan rather? >> yes, he runs the risk of coming out on the short end. you can't say the sky is falling, the sky is falling, and the sky is falling and if the sky doesn't fall, you're at a disadvantage. >> katty. >> the polls, people are just not engaged and interested in the story and worried about the fiscal cliff. a number of people who know what the sequester is who have heard of it are very small. the president is saying the sky is falling and th

. >> reporter:senator'slindseygrahamandjohn mccain also happened to be among the dozen republican senators who broke bread with mr. obama last night. >> how did the meeting go? >> just fine. >> reporter: the reviews by other senators also went very well. by the way, the president today had lunch with another republican, paul ryan. and john brennan, he has been confirmed. he is now the cia director, brian. >> chuck todd, white house lawn tonight. chalk, thanks. >>> also today, the president signed a reauthorization of the violence against women act, first passed back in 1994. but recently held up because of budget fighting, of all things. the law makes it easier to prosecute domestic violence crimes in federal court, provides funding for services, including battered women's shelters and hotlines. during today's ceremony, the president said, quote, all women have the right to live free from fear. >>> this ongoing debate over abortion is making news again tonight. the effort by some states to reduce access to abortion has just reached a new level with arkansas passing what is now the nation's

. but in the normal in washington, a dinner like this makes news. it camefromlindseygrahamduringa phone conversation last weekend. those invited to the dinner focused to stop the budget standoff were invited by graham and not the president. his closest senate friends were on the list but also invited senators who have a particular interest in the budget debate, including tea party favorites. >> a very open honest sincere general discussion. >> if there's one issue democrats and republicans agree in congress, it this is fact they don't think president obama reaches out enough, but it's clearly a big change in strategy, and you see it today, his lunch partner today at the white house, paul ryan. matt? >>> meanwhile, there is new opposition this morning to the tsa's decision to allow passengers to carry small knives on to planes. representatives for the federal air marshals and flight attendants say they want that policy change to be reconsidered. sarah nelson is the president of the association of flight attendants and also a flight attendant for united airlines. good to have you here. >>

lindseygraham, forinstance, is saying we can still get a grand bargain. he wants the president and the speaker to go back to where they were back in 2011 and pick that up and deal with entitlements and perhaps more revenues because of closing loopholes. should your party come to the table on the issue of increased revenues? >> you know, i think it's a little hard to imagine after january where the highest -- the biggest tax increase in american history took place and then go back to say we have a revenue problem. i think the focus -- >> no wiggle room there at all? >> there may be. if the president's sincere about dealing with our structural problems. but the thing that we could all agree on is how do we create high sustained economic growth for starters, and how can we get back to a degree of normalcy where, like, budgets are passed? i'm not talking about ten-year estimations, but going to the new normal being the house and the senate pass a budget and there's a compromise and the president signs it into law. >> this all gets to the dynamic in washington right now. you are pas